Hobey Baker Watch: Week 14

The Hobey Baker race continues into the stretch run of the season, continuing to be as open as it has been in the last few weeks. Outstanding performances from players across the sport continue to change the landscape of the race. With only a few weeks to play in the season, and the scoring “arms race” of sorts continuing to heat up, here’s how things stand so far.

In Atlantic Hockey, the name to watch remains Brady Ferguson (Robert Morris). His 45 points leave him tied for sixth in the nation for scoring. The trio of Williams (Canisius), Marotte (Robert Morris), and Gahagen (Army) continue to make their cases by keeping their tremendous statistical paces up. Williams (1.92, .942) leads the conference in save percentage, while Marotte (1.90, .939) leads in GAA, and Gahagen (1.92, .934) continues to keep pace with both in the two major categories.

In the Big Ten, Tyler Sheehy (Minnesota) and Mason Jobst (Ohio State) both remain over 40 points on the season and in the top 10 in the nation. The two sit at eighth and tied for ninth respectively in the NCAA and their performances have put both teams in contention. There really aren’t any goalies that can contend, and there are no players above 40 points besides the aforementioned Sheehy and Jobst.

The ECAC features their crop of Hobey contenders, most notably Mike Vecchione and Spencer Foo (Union). The two sit at 51 and 50 points respectively, sitting in a second-place tie, and third place respectively on the national level. Kyle Hayton (St. Lawrence) remains the goaltender worth noting (2.12, .937) as his save percentage is sixth in the country.

In Hockey East, the candidates for the award are in droves this season. With six players above 40 points, it is a stack at the top of the scoring list in the conference. The Northeastern trio of Zach Aston-Reese (52, leading the nation), Dylan Sikura (49, fifth in the nation) and Adam Gaudette (45, tied for sixth in the nation) lead the way. Tyler Kelleher (UNH) is tied for second with the aforementioned Vecchione at 51 points. For goalies, Jake Oettinger (BU) and Collin Delia (Merrimack) both sit in the top ten in GAA at 1.93, and in save percentage. Delia sits at fifth with a .934 save percentage, while Oettinger has a .932 save percentage, seventh in the country.

The NCHC continues to have Austin Ortega (Omaha) lead the charge but he is beginning to fall behind with 39 points on the season, only 12th in the nation. For goaltenders, Tanner Jaillet of Denver continues to put on a clinic (1.82, .932) in net, sitting third in the country in GAA, while keeping Denver nationally ranked.

And lastly, what the WCHA does not have in scoring, it does provide in goaltending. Michael Bitzer (Bemidji State) and Angus Redmond (Michigan Tech) continue to work their names into the Hobey argument with outstanding performances in net thus far. Bitzer leads the country in GAA at 1.70, while Redmond is second at 1.77. Bitzer also sits in the top 10 in save percentage at .931, while Redmond is 15th at .919.

Zach Kaplan is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at zvk5072@psu.edu.